Serving-table



' F. A. OSTERBERG.

- SERVING TABLE; APPLICATION FILED APRL3. I920.

' Patented May 31, 1921,

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3 SHEEIS'jSHEET 2- F. A. OSTEBBERG.

'SERVING TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED mus. 1920.

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F. A. OSTERBERG.

SERVING TABLE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1920.

' Patented May 31, 1921.

jW/Ve 71/1'0/1 FRANKA. O STERBERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

To all to 710m it may concern .7

Be it known that I, FRANK A. OSTERBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county'of Cook, State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Serving-Tables, and declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it perta ins to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to pro duce a simple and novel table which 'inay be projected over a bed to support food or other things, be wheeled bodily away from the bed and, when not in use, be folded into 'acompact forini v ;The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the followingdetaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a table arranged in accordance with a preferred form of my invention, opened and ready for use;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the table looking at the left hand end of Fig. 1;

; Fig. 3-is a'vertical section taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig.2;

V Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the table in its folded condition; I Fig. 5 is a section taken approximately on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section taken approximately on line 6-6 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail on an enlarged scale sh owing the sliding connection between i the table leaf and the supporting standard.

Referring to the, drawings, 1 and 2 represent two upright members connected together by cross pleces, ,3 and, in the vicinity of the ends thereof, thus forming an approximately rectangular frame. In the inner edges or faces of the uprights are 1ongitudin al grooves, 5. v 6 is a table leaf having in the vicinity of oneend thereof an underlyingtransverserod, 7, secured thereto by Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 31, 192 1.

Application filed April 3, 1920. Serial No. 371,020.

clips, 8, or otherwise, so that the rod may rotate; the ends of the rod projecting laterally beyond the leaf and being bent or shaped into or having thereon shoes, 9,

fitting slidably into the grooves 5 On the 1 underside of the table leaf, near andparallel with the side edges thereof, are ranged two long rods, 10,secured tothe leaf by means of bearing devices, 11, which permit the rods to rotatewhile holding them.

against endwise movement. Each of the rods 10 has at the inner end an, arm, 12,

bent approximately at right angles thereto, the free end of the arm 12 beingagain bent laterally as indicated-at. 13, soas tolie approximately parallel with the main poring hinge support for onelend of the table leaf while bent rods serve asbrackets to hold the table in a horizontal position or permlt the leaf to swingv down within .the

frame-like standard. It will be seen that when the bent rods are. turned so as to bring the parts 12 and 13 thereof flat against the under side of the leaf, as illustratedin Figs. 4, -5 and 6, the leaf may be swung down against thesupporting standard, the hinged end having first been raised high enough to permitthis. W henthe bent rods are swungoutwardly as illustrated in Figs. 1 v,and 2,

so that the members 13 thereof abut against the uprights 1 .and 2,015 the supporting frame, the leaf will be held at right angles to the supporting standard, that is horizontal. If-the bent rodssimply abutted against the uprights they would not, prevent [the 't-ion of the rod. The rod, 7 ,serves as a slidtable leaf from dropping down bodily and I On the under side of the leaf is a drawer, i

15, supported in. suitable guides, 16, so as topermit the drawerto be positioned wholly underneath the leaf asshow-n in full lines in Fig. 1 or be drawn outwardly as shown in dotted lines in this same figure,

In order to maintain the supporting standard in an upright position and permit the table as a whole to be moved about freely, I have hinged. the uprights, at their lower ends, to one end of a low wheeled truck, 17 the hinges being shown at 18. The truck carries two arms or bars, 19, each hinged at one end to the truck, as indicated at 20, at some distance from the hinges 18. These arms or bars may be swung down so as to lie below the top surface of the truck as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in full lines in Fig. 5, or they may be swung upwardly so that each will extend diagonally between the top of the truck and one of the uprights. In the arrangement illustrated, as'best shown in Fig. 3, each of the uprights is provided with a stop or pin, 21, on which the free end of the corresponding bar or arm, 19, may rest when swung upwardly, and the transverse bar or connecting piece, 4, is provided with downwardly and forwardly-opening pockets, 22, just above the pins 21, to form seats for the upper ends'of the arms or bars. lVhen the table is opened ready for use as illustrated in Fig. 3, the arms or bars, 19, serve as struts or braces which will preventthe supporting standard from tilting forward under the weight of a load on the table leaf. The standard may be prevented from swinging in the opposite direction by means of a simple hasp or shackle device, 24, conveniently such as commonly employed on suit cases, arranged between the lower end of each upright and the adjacent portion of the truck.

When the table is to be used, it is opened up as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the leaf being placed at any desired elevation to suit the conditions under which it is to be used, and the table as a whole maybe wheeled about from one point to another. When the table is not in use it may be folded into a. compact form and stored away; the user simply swinging the leaf upwardly through a sufficient angle to carry the ends, 13, of the bent rods out of the holes; the bent rods being then swung so as to lie flat against the under side of the leaf; the leaf being then swung down so as to lie within the frame-like standard between the cross bars 3 and 4; the holding devices, 24, being disengaged and the bars 19 being swung down into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3; and the truck being then folded up flat against the standard as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

After the parts have been folded together, the swinging end of the table leaf may be locked to the standard by means of small plates, 25, lying on the under side of the leaf, near its free end and pivoted intermediate their ends to the leaf. When the table is in use these plates are swung around so as to be concealed beneath the leaf but, when the table is opened, they are turned through an angle of ninety degrees into the positions illustrated in Fig. 4, their outer ends extending into the grooves 5 in the standard. The truck may be held folded against the standard by means of hooks, 26, one of which is secured to each of the uprights, and eyes, 27, on the truck; the hooks being entered into the eyes when the parts are folded together, and locking them together.

If desired, the bounding walls of the grooves, 5, may be cut away in the rear at their extreme upper ends, so as to permit the shoes on the ends of the hinge rod for the table leaf to be inserted laterally; the cutting away of these walls forming a gap as indicated at 28 in Fig. 2.

The cross piece, 3, of the supporting standard will usually lie at some distance above the table leaf when the table is opened, and will serve as a rack on which towels, napkins, or other articles may be hung.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed inthe defi nitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A serving table comprising a standard in the form of aframe open in the center and having grooves extending lengthwise of the upright members of the frame on the sides facing each other, a table of a size and shape such that it may lie fiat within the opening in the standard, said leaf having at one end lateral projections entered into said grooves and permitting the leaf to swing into and out of said opening and to move bodily along said upright members, brackets secured on the under side of said leaf and movable from positions in which they lie flat against the latter to positions in which they extend downwardly, and shoulders distributed along said uprights in position to engage said brackets when the latter extend downwardly from the leaf.

2. A serving table comprising a standard in the form of a frame open in the center and having grooves extending lengthwise of the upright members of the frame on the sides facing each other, a table of a size and shape such that it may lie flatwithin the opening in the standard, said leaf having at one end lateral projections entered into said grooves and permitting the leaf to swing into and out of said opening and to move bodily along said upright members, brackets secured on the under side of said leaf and movable from positions in which they lie fiat against the latter to positions in which be moved so as to project into said grooves they extend downwardly, shoulders disto hold the leaf against swinging out of tributed along said uprights in position to the opening in the standard. engage said brackets when the latter extend In testimony whereof I sign this specifi- 5 downwardly from he leaf, and locking memcation.

bers mounted on the said leaf remote from the aforesaid end thereof and adapted to FRANK A. OSTERBERG. 

